PPCS was recently happy to welcome a family from Ukraine into our Bears family. Two students in grades 5 and 8 joined our student body. On their first day, as could be expected, they were nervous and unsure. This is greatly compounded by the language barrier. At one point during the day, the student in grade 5 become a bit agitated. The language barrier prevented her from being able to let us know what she needed. The situation was degrading rapidly. Luckily, we have some students who are able to speak Ukrainian. I went and got Davyd G from his class and asked if he could help us out. Of course, he agreed.

The interaction between Davyd and the student started a bit awkward. I suggested that Davyd tell the student that he could speak Ukrainian, in Ukrainian, which he did. This elicited a smile from the student and she was able to explain that she wanted to see her sister. We were able to make that happen and all was well.

Later, I thanked Davyd and explained that his act of kindness, his sharing of his language skills, allowed the student to have her needs met, and allowed her to be able to remain at school. I was humbled by both Davyd's language skills and his willingness to extend kindness to our new student. He not only translated by was a comfort to her in allowing her to express her needs.

All of our students are amazing and show acts of kindness every day. That being said, this went above and beyond and as such deserves a shout-out. I, along with the rest of our school community looks forward to getting to know the newest members of our Bears family. We have now downloaded some translator apps to make communication easier, but may have to rely on Davyd and Sasha again in the future, some times we just need a human touch.

Once again this year, PPCS celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday. The grade K-3s listened to "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish , Blue Fish" and then made their own fish puppets using origami. The grade 3s and 4s listened to "Cat in the Hat" and then made their own Thing 1 or Thing 2. This is a day that I look forward to every year. Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!

The Senior Boys' Basketball team hosted their home tournament this past weekend. Eight teams competed for the top spot. In the end, your very own PPCS Bears were victorious. Friday afternoon, the entire school gathered in the gym to cheer them on in their first game against Tisdale, it was a great time for everyone.

Huge thanks to all of the people who came out to cheer the Bears on.

Huge thanks as well to everyone who volunteered in the canteen or at the score table. Without out volunteers, these events are not possible.

The citrus fruit should be here Monday, March 6 at around 2:30pm. Families are welcome to pick up any time after that.

3 way conferences on Wed and Thurs of this week. Attendance is required by all students. Please visit Edsby to sign up for an interview time. We look forward to meeting with families to discuss their child's progress.

The volunteer for this month is none other than our very own PPCS Principal. Mr. Mielke has been a big contributor in organizing and running the kitchen canteen for our last couple of sporting events. Students enjoy being in there working along side him and picking up some life skills about cooking, prep and meal planning along the way. He is also now coaching Jr NBA which our younger students are excited about. Thank you for your leadership and support for Bears Athletics.

Athlete of the month is Kayden Wasylyk. He has shown a huge amount of growth and improvement over a season and a half in playing with the Sr. team. He asks questions, tries to do things correctly and is dedicated to improving his shooting and footwork. He wants to be a good player and works hard to be just that. Good job Kayden

Athlete of the month is Cruze Reed. Cruze is just coming into basketball but seems to be enjoying it to the point where he is found in the gym with a ball in his hands on most days that end in Y. His size, speed, and competitiveness make him an asset to his team. Congrats Cruze.

We are super excited to get the Junior NBA basketball started this week.

Grade 3/4 Girls will practice Mondays at 3:30

Grade 3/4 Boys will practice Tuesdays at 3:30

Grade 5/6 Boys will practice Tuesdays at 3:30

Grade 5/6 Girls will practice Wednesdays at 3:30.

All players need clean shoes and a water bottle to play.

** Games may start earlier if teams arrive, our goal is to get them home as early as possible.

Once again, Jigs and Carolines will be offering hot lunches on Wednesday and Friday. Please order directly from them. Please note:

ALL JIGS ORDERS MUST BE PLACED THROUGH THE GOOGLE FORM BELOW.

CAROLINES ORDERS MUST NOW BE PLACED ONLINE AS WELL.